The Welsh Photographic Federation
Undeb Ffotograffig Cymru
Peter Young recently provided us with the following information the late Roy Thomas and we thought we’d share it here as many of you won’t know how much work Roy did for the WPF and the PAGB.
Roy’s career in the service of UK photography.
Citation in support of Roy’s nomination for the J S Lancaster Award.
The WPF Executive are very saddened to inform you of the sudden and sad passing of Roy Thomas in Morriston Hospital, on the afternoon of 3rd January 2025. As a Past President of the WPF and a very well-respected Life Member of Neath & District PS, he will be sadly missed.
Our thoughts and sincere condolences are with his wife Margaret and his family at this time. May he rest in peace.
Roy’s funeral will be held at St. Matthew’s Church, Dyffryn, Bryncoch, Neath, SA10 7AZ ar 2pm on 23rd January, 2025.
Pat Hollis (Hon.General Secretary)
Roy in March 2024 being presented with a gift for 40 years of service to the Welsh Photographic Federation.
The 2025 Welsh Salon of Photography is Open for Entry
Entry Now Closed!
How to Enter: For 2025 we will be utilising an email entry system and an on-line catalogue. Information on how to enter can be found in the documents below. Please ensure to read the entry form in conjunction with the supplementary information and conditions of entry.
Entry form (Word document) Entry Form (PDF document)
Supplementary Information Conditions of Entry
Categories: There will be 3 ‘open’ categories: Colour Prints, Monochrome Prints and PDIs.
Fees: The basic charge per image entered will £2 but with a minimum charge of £6 which will cover up to 3 entries, and a maximum charge of £24 which covers 4 entries in each of the 3 Categories.
Entry Deadline: The date and time of the last (on-line) entry and delivery of Prints to the WPF AGM at Talbot Green at 10am Sunday 2nd March 2025.
Selection: At Talbot Green Community Centre, 93 Clos Springfield, Talbot Green, Pontyclun, CF72 8FE from 10am on Sunday 23rd March 2025. Free parking is available.
Selectors: For 2025 the selectors will be: Colin Trow-Poole FRPS FIPF MAPGB, Julie Morgan AWPF and Leigh Woolford AWPF EFIAP DPAGB BPE4 Hon. FWPF
Exhibition Venue: Cynon Valley Museum, Depot Rd, Gadlys, Aberdare. CF44 8DL.
Exhibition Official Opening: 11am on Saturday 3rd May.
Exhibition Opening Dates & Times – The exhibition opens on Saturday 3rd May 2025 and the last full viewing day will be Thursday 29th May. Please note, the museum is open to the public from 9.30am to 3.30pm Tuesday to Saturday. It is closed on Sunday & Monday. Please be sure to double-check opening/closing details before visiting.
Exhibition parking: You can park for up to two hours free in the adjacent Tesco car park.
Attendance: There is no entry fee to attend either the selection at Talbot Green Community Centre or the exhibition at the Cynon Valley Museum. However, visitors will need to provide their own refreshments. There is a Tesco nearby at both sites.
AWPF Distinction Workshop: This will be held during the exhibition at the Cynon Valley Museum on Saturday 17th May. Contact David Lewis by emailing distinctions@thewpf.co.uk if you wish to be involved.
Please note, due to space limitations and other factors, not all accepted images can be displayed at the exhibition. However, they will all be included and displayed in an eCatalogue which will be published on the WPF website.
Examples of previous eCatalogues can be viewed here.
Huge congratulations to Bridgend Bridgend & District CC who won the recent Cwm Rhondda Battle (organised by Rhondda CC) with a total of 76 points. It is great to see a WPF Club finishing ahead of clubs like Smethwick, Bristol, Catchlight, Carluke, Edinburgh and the like.
Joint second were Dublin and Smethwick with 75. Joint fouth on 74 were another WPF Club, Gwynfa along with Bristol and Johannesburg. The final scores can be seen here and for anyone who missed the battle, it can be viewed on Youtube.
The judge was Margaret Salisbury FRPS, MFIAP, FIPF, FSITTP, FSINWP, AWPF, APAGB.
The clubs involved were: Sheffield PS, Camera Club Johannesburg South Africa, Baglan Bay, Dublin CC, Western Valley CC, Hay On Wye CC, Bridgend CC, Visions PS. Aberdeen, Bromsgrove PS, Edinburgh PS, Catchlight (Belfast), Smethwick PS, Exmouth PG, Hermanus PS South Africa, Rhondda CC, Dumfries CC, Tenby CC, Gwynfa CC, Afan Nedd, Bristol CC, Aberdare CC and Carluke CC.
My Journey to a Successful AWPF Panel – Jan Wilson-Chalon AWPF.
In the first of a series of articles, our AWPF coordinator Paul James asks photographers who were successful in achieving the AWPF distintion to tell us about their journey towards creating their successful panel.
First up is Jan Wilson-Chalon AWPF who successfully submtted the two panels you can see below for consideration on the 2024 Assessment Day.
You can read about her journey here.
If you’re interested in pursuing an AWPF distinction, you can find more information here.
The 2024 AWPF Assessment took place on 3rd November at the Talbot Green Community Centre, and it was heartening to see so many attendees from across the country supporting this significant event in Welsh photography. I extend my sincere thanks to everyone who came to witness the assessment process and to those who contributed to its success.
I am pleased to report that this year’s AWPF assessment had a total of 18 candidates: 16 submitted printed panels and 2 submitted digital panels. It was inspiring to see the quality of work presented, with 11 out of 16 print submissions meeting the rigorous standards required for the award, resulting in a 69% success rate in the print category. While the digital submissions were not successful this year, the overall success rate for the assessment was 61%.
Congratulations to the following candidates who achieved the AWPF distinction for 2024:
| Candidate | Club | Theme |
| Elisa Best | Monmouth | Big Cats of South Africa |
| Allan Pick | Afan Nedd | American Classics |
| John Nash | Cleethorpes |
Lincolnshire Insects |
| Liz Clayton | Morriston | Dead Structured |
| Pat Frewin | Colchester | Moments in Time |
| Ken Jacob | Abergavenny | Bisking – Street Musicians |
| Jan Wilson-Chalon (1) | Mold | Backlighting of Wildlife |
| Roger Harrison | Barry | Churches & Cathedrals of England & Wales |
| Steve Greening | Maesycwmmer | Nature |
| Jan Wilson-Chalon (2) | Mold | Birds of Prey |
| Melvyn Frewin | Colchester | Intimate Landscapes |
Assessors
The day was led by a panel of experienced assessors who brought their expertise, fairness, and insightful feedback to each candidate. We are grateful to:
Each assessor took the time to provide thoughtful critiques, ensuring candidates understood the high standards of the AWPF distinction and offering guidance for continued growth.
Acknowledgements
This event’s success relied on the dedication of numerous volunteers who generously contributed their time and effort. Special thanks go to:
Mentorship and Support
This year, the high quality and the success rate is a testament not only to the hard work of the candidates but also to the invaluable mentorship they received. I would like to extend my gratitude to mentors Peter Young, Dave Condon, Julie Morgan, Suzanne Slee, and Les Loosemore, whose guidance played a crucial role in the success of many candidates. Their encouragement and constructive advice reflect the supportive spirit of the WPF community.
To those candidates who did not achieve the distinction this year, we commend you on your efforts and urge you to continue pursuing your photographic journey. The assessors provided valuable feedback, and we hope it will serve as inspiration for future submissions.
In closing, the 2024 AWPF Assessment Day was a resounding success, showcasing the talent, dedication, and collaborative spirit that define the Welsh Photographic Federation. Thank you to everyone involved in making this event a memorable one. Your contributions help uphold the high standards of the AWPF distinction and inspire the wider photographic community.
Paul James, AWPF
The 2025 Arena Seminar will be held in Bournemouth in March.
The event has been running for over 25 years and has a reputation of obtaining unique speakers that clubs and societies are not always able to get or afford. Click here for more details.
Dear Member,
It is with huge regret that Jenny has decided to step down from her role as President of the WPF and from the WPF Executive Committee. Jenny has some personal health issues and feels if she is to manage and recover from these, she needs to relinquish her WPF responsibilities to ensure she can concentrate on getting well.
The Executive Committee fully appreciate Jenny’s decision and very sadly accept her resignation. Jenny has given many years to the WPF in her various roles on the Executive Committee and in particular the last couple of years when as Past President, Jenny stepped into the breach when Sue had to step down from the Presidents role and then agreed to complete another year whilst our Vice President Ron Lines found his feet. The Executive Committee can’t thank Jenny enough and are hugely appreciative of her time and commitment to the WPF. She leaves a huge void in the team and will be greatly missed.
Ron Lines as Vice President will take up the reigns as President until the point of the AGM and David Del Jones has agreed to fully support Ron as Interim Vice President subject to his nomination at the AGM in March.
On behalf of the WPF Executive, and the Membership, we would like to congratulate and sincerely thank Jenny for her many years of service and commitment to the WPF and convey our very best wishes for a quick and speedy recovery.
Very best wishes Jenny from all your Friends across the WPF.
A thank you to all who supported the WPF weekend at the Heronston in Bridgend.
Riccardo Beghini with superb atmospheric prints from the heritage coast and surrounding areas (the feel of a photo).
Nick Upton with an encyclopaedic knowledge of Wildlife re-introductions (who could forget the Cranes’s parents?)
Paul Sanders the boy who failed at everything including photography yet became photo editor of The Times before leaving the rat-race to become his own man.
Simon Brinkworth who socked it to us with the history of medical imaging and NHS organisation then went on to hold us riveted with medical prints. (everybody checked their moles?)
Thanks to Jenny Hibbert WPF President for the formal opening and welcome to the event and to Ron Lines Vice President of the WPF for the formal closing address. Jenny also expressed our appreciation of the work of Nick and Ron that of Simon. Leigh Woolford of Gwynfa and Julie Morgan of Abergavenny thanked Riccardo and Paul respectively.
The range and excellence of the presentations has been captured through phrases like “you could hear a pin drop” and “and merited a standing ovation”.
Thanks to the working team of Ed Cloutman (projection and computing), Les Loosemore (equipment and especially for use of his illuminated stands that do so much to show prints to the best advantage), Gareth Martin (event publicity and advertising), Dave Condon (ticketing, badging and finance), Pat Hollis (raffle organisation and ticketing), Martin Smith (also raffle and event photos). Dave Lewis (coordination).
Many thanks to all executive members who so generously donated raffle prizes (you know who you are). Similarly, thanks to all who entered a print for the WPF Convention Trophy – the winner of the shield was Pat Hollis with “End of Summer”; selection was by Paul Sanders.
My thanks also to Trevor Waller and Jeff Howe of Cardiff together with Huw Edwards of Aberdare for providing consultancy on convention issues. As ever, Fotospeed and PhotoProlab (Cardiff) supported with discounts on their products and services. Fotospeed (Tim Jones) together with Les Loosemore held an “after-hours” print surgery. The Heronston also kindly provided two spa vouchers for our raffle.
Last but most important our thanks to you who make it all worthwhile and possible through your attendance and appreciation of the event, of the speakers and the work behind the scenes.
We hope to see you again next year at the 53rd WPF weekend event!
